The boys volleyball team (3-1) won their last league game 3-0 after defeating Crean Lutheran High School (2-2) at home on Tuesday, April 21.

Head coach Albert Soliguen said having a home game after many away games set a positive tone for the team and how the Lancers played on the court.

“I felt pretty confident going into the game,” Soliguen said. “We played Crean before in the first round, and we beat them in three, so I know we could do it again.”

The head coach said that the most memorable moment was when setter senior Parker Mesnik blocked an incoming spike with his foot.

“One rally where we had a block coverage that came on our side, Parker kicked the ball, and we made a scrappy play turn into a great play,” he said. “We scored on that, so that was one of the biggest highlights of the rally of the game.”

Middle blocker junior Marco Gaston said Mesnik’s save pumped up the crowd.

“I really liked when Parker dug the ball with his foot because it was really cool,” Gaston said. “It was really fun to play and really nice to have a student section out there.”

Gaston said this game’s play was a major improvement compared to previous ones.

“The last few league games, we haven’t been doing very well, but today, we played really well,” he said. “I think it boosted our mood and our morale as a team, especially coming up in playoffs.”

Libero senior Jacob Sueki said the team was skilled at responding quickly to the opposing team’s hits.

“We’re just great at putting the ball away and serving behind the line and at the net,” Sueki said. “If we could put the ball away there, then we don’t really have anything to worry about.”

The Lancers will be heading to the CIF-SS playoffs after placing second in the league championships. Soliguen said he’s both happy and sad about this result because the team lost its five-year streak of winning the league championship title against Canyon High School (7-1).

“It’s bittersweet, but I’m OK with it because our conference is a very tough, tough league,” he said. “We’ve only been in this league for two years now, so we’re officially 1-1 as far as winning this league, so we’re fortunate enough to play at a high level against other programs that have been around for 15-20 plus years.”

The head coach said his goal before CIF-SS playoffs is to focus on maintaining their form.

“My expectations are just to continue to be consistent and kind of sharpen up all the details of what we need to work on,” Soliguen said.